"This little light of mine"

I live in the Midwest; where the summers are hot and the winters are unpredictable! That being said I was driving to work one January morning from one small mid-western town to another on country roads and it was so incredibly foggy that my visibility was very limited. I couldn't see oncoming traffic until they were almost right next to me! As I was driving I began thinking about how that morning's weather was such a metaphor of my life at that time. The fog was my life, thick and full of the unknown with limited visibility into the future. Going through the "fog" of life thinking to myself, "This has got to let up soon, right?" Fog, to me, is much more hazardous to drive in than any other weather condition. I think it is because you can't see what is up ahead. You just don't know if you are going too fast because there may be vehicles in front of you with their breaks on, or there may be vehicles behind you coming up quickly. Doesn't life seem like that a lot of times? As we go through life it is hard to imagine what the future may hold for us and our loved ones. Will there be sickness? Will there be heartache? Will there be death? All of these things are a possibility because we are human and we live in this human world and my guess is that most of us have already experienced a lot of these life changing events more than once. So, how do we get through all the "fog" of this life? It can be scary not to be able to see what lies ahead of us. There is a story in the book of John about a blind man that Jesus heals. This man had been born blind and as Jesus was near this man the disciples wanted to know why this man was born blind they asked, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, “It is not this man’s sin or his parents’ sin that made him blind. This man was born blind so that God’s power could be shown in him. 4 While it is daytime, we must continue doing the work of the One who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9:3-5) In this story the blindness of this man is like the "fog" in our own lives. Sometimes we are blinded by this "fog" because of the events that are taking place in our lives or around us. Bad things happen to good people. Tragedy does not have a radar on you alone. Everyone, whether they are in a relationship with God will have sorrows and hard times. It is not a punishment caused by the sin of your loved ones or by your own sins. It is life and no one is exempt! As I continued driving it dawned on me that even though I had limited visibility I was still able to drive. Why? The lights on my vehicle were leading me to where I needed to go! Was it a perfect path? No. Could I see everything crystal clear? No. But I trusted that I would get to where I was going as long as I kept my lights on and followed that path. In my life Jesus is the light-just as He said in John 9:5, "While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." As long as we have Jesus as our guide His light will lead us to where we need to be. This doesn't mean that the path will be without trials and sorrow, but it does mean that we are not in it alone, living blindly without hope for the future. The more we rely on Him and allow Him to guide us the brighter our paths will become! I arrived at my destination that day, grateful and blessed. I realized that all of this "fogginess" that I was experiencing in my life at this time would not be there forever and the only way that I could "see" my way through it was to put my hope and trust in the the one true light of this world---Jesus Christ! I pray that you will let the light of Jesus lead you. Blessings-Nicole